ISR Community: Scientists Without Borders®
The International Science Reserve (ISR)’s community is a network of scientists and scientific institutions from around the world working together to accelerate research to address complex global crises.
Preparing scientists across borders
The ISR offers community members a free, digital hub for scenario planning and open-call readiness exercises to help scientists prepare by connecting, collaborating, and analyzing how they would apply their research in different disasters.
Reasons to join the ISR community:
- Gain access to resources to accelerate your research;
- Receive global exposure and be valued for your contributions to crisis resolution;
- Contribute to crisis solutions through real-world application of your research;
- Access a borderless global network of experts;
- Develop in your field through knowledge sharing, networking, and community connections; and
- Ensure you do not miss any critical crisis communication updates.
Role playing crisis to prepare for real-life disaster
When a crisis hits, there are complex decisions that leaders must make to protect people and reduce the impact on society and the environment. Serious games – or simulation exercises – help explore risk and response to issues like climate change adaptation and public health crises.
The ISR has partnered with the Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation (CAPTRS) to build customized digital serious games to help its network prepare for disaster response.
Learn more about how ISR is working with CAPTRS to design serious games for crisis response.
Getting resources where they’re needed the most
Scientists, especially those from across the ISR community in low-resource countries and contexts, identified the need for more access to and coordination of specialized data resources and institutional partnerships. The ISR pre-positions scientific resources, so that scientists can connect to them quickly across borders, without extensive applications or long waits for approvals.
These tools, including high-performance computing, remote sensing, geospatial-temporal mapping, and databases, can help scientists address the worst impacts of disaster, including damage to people, communities, and livelihoods from heatwaves, wildfires and flooding.
Learn more about how ISR is partnering with IBM to put advanced data and AI tools into the hands of researchers.
Meet the community
To celebrate the ISR community, we are pleased to feature a few of the members who contributed to crisis simulations.
I want my research to also help people, to contribute to humanity, because directly or indirectly ecological crises affect people’s lives. The ISR's first readiness exercise gave me a way to think about my research interests and areas of expertise from another perspective that explores multidisciplinary approaches.
- Matthew Adeleye,
The Australian National University
I observed how the 2007 earthquake off the coast of Martinique changed people’s perceptions in Barbados towards earthquakes. Then, I thought about natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires that people know are coming and wanted to find out more about why populations act or do not act. By participating in the first ISR readiness exercise, I could see the usability of my work and its impact on a real-life situation—a phenomenal feeling.
- Tracy Marshall,
Department of Geography, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine
We are scientists. We have no nations. It is crucial for us to collaborate across international borders, through organizations like the International Science Reserve. My hope is that the global scientific community will be able to solve some issues that cannot be solved on a national level.
- Fulya Aydin-Kandemir,
Hydropolitics Association (HPA), Ankara & Akdeniz University
In my work, it is difficult to access certain essential data. We need something like the ISR to help us with that, and for scientists to better learn from each other regardless of their geographic location.
- Daniel San Martin,
Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María
The ISR offers a way for scientists to come together and brainstorm on a model and the tools you will need. Like in our regular research, this is an opportunity for us to use our research tools and our knowledge—but to directly help society.
- Vinicius Albani,
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
I was impressed by the inclusive way that the ISR opened its first readiness exercise. The issue of air quality in public health, as part of crisis preparation, is very important and yet understudied in my country. I couldn’t pass up submitting a proposal.
- Daisy B. Badilla,
Independent Researcher
As scientists, we can prevent real crises. The ISR allows us to think in advance, think about the future. When a crisis arrives, we can have strong projects or concepts that are ready to help mitigate disasters.
- Roberto Dias, Scientific Director of Microbiote
Fundação Arthur Bernardes/Petrobras, Universidade Federal de Viçosa,
Scientific Director of Microbiote
What we do
Nicholas Dirks (The New York Academy of Sciences) and Dario Gil (IBM Research) introduce the ISR.
Blog feature
Read Why Wildfires Were Chosen as the Pilot Crisis for the International Science Reserve.
